Ice tray



Nov. 28, 1939. D. a. SMELLIE ICE TRAY Filed June 20, 1938 INVENTOR Donald Sme fi y ATTORNEY Patented Nov. 28, 1939 I ICE TRAY Donald G. Smellie, Canton, Ohio, assignor to The Hoover Company,'North Canton, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application June 20, 1338, Serial No. 214,680

13 Claims.

This application relates to domestic refrigerators and more particularly to apparatus for making clear ice. I

In an application for Letters Patent by Alfred G. Gross, Serial #188,412 filed February 3, 1938, there is disclosed an apparatus applied to a domestic refrigerator in which air is caused to pass upwardly through the freezing water to free it of suspended gases and thereby produce clear ice cubes.

In the apparatus disclosed in the aforementioned application, it was necessary to design a special ice tray to lead the air to the freezing water and it is accordingly an object of this invention to provide a flexible grid structure adapted to be applied to a standard ice tray and having conduit means associated therewith leading to the Various freezing compartments whereby a fluid, such as air, may be passed through the water in the freezing compartment to free it of suspended gases and thereby. produce clear ice.

Another object of the invention is'to provide a grid structure and that is adapted'to be ap.- plied to a standard ice tray which'is made of tion to form individual cube compartments. This grid structureis made: of flexible material, preferably rubber, and isshaped to fit inside a standard ice freezing tray as shown. Ice does not freeze astightly to rubber as it does to 5 metal and the making of the grid structure of rubber provides for the easy removal of the ice cubes after they have become frozen. The rubber is also easily flexed so that frozen ice cubes can be readily removed. To make sure that the 0 ice cubes 'will be lifted'from the freezing tray when the grid structure is raised, the longitudinal partition is provided with extension 30, ex'- tending out into the cube compartments on either side of the central partition. The grid 15 structure need not be made of rubber or other non-metallic material but 'could obviously made of metal if desired. I

Toprovide for the introduction of air beneath the surface of water to be frozen, the longitu- 2 dinal partition 21 is enlarged at its top as shown o at 3|. and is-provided with a duct 32, having exrubber .:or othensimilar materiai'so thatfroze'n ice cubes can be readily removed therefrom.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the specification and drawing in which:

Figure 1 'shows the invention applied to a domestic refrigerator;

Figure 2'shcwsan embodiment of the invention partly in section together with a portion of the freezing chamber walls of a domestic refrigerator.

In the drawing is shown a domestic refrigerator cabinet having a .top wall 10, a door ll, a-back wall I2, and'a flue 13, for the circulation of cooling air over the heat radiating part of any suitable refrigerating system. Suitably tensions 33 leading downwardly through the central partition 21, to apertures 33 and 35 opening into each of the cub compartments. As will 25 be noted, these'apertur'es- 34 and 35 open into the cube compartment "at their very bottom so that air flowing through the duct will enter at the bottom of the'compartment and agitate all of the water therein so as to remove all of the gases suspendedv in the 'water and thereby produce clear ice cubes.

. The conduit means need not be made integral with the grid structure but can be made to be separately attached. thereto with branch conduits extending. to the bottom of each freezing compartment.

cooperating with a secohdjoint member 31, Sup-r,

mounted in the cabinet is an-evaporator, generally indicated 'at It, formed froma continuous coil of tubing to providea plurality .of horizontally spaced apart pipe portions It on which are mounted shelves 11, for the reception of ice makingtrays 18. The evaporator I! is enclosed in a housing 19, having a top wall 20, side walls 2l, a bottom wall'22, a rear wall 23; and a door 24. Suitably supported beneath the evaporator. ;a drippan25.' 1 As hown, in Figure 2, the grid structure gen- -The enlarged portion 3| of the longitudinal partition 21, is extended beyond the edgeof the tray as shown at 36 to form a joint member ported in the 'end wall 23 of the housing 19, by a nut 38. The nut 38 also holds an incoming conduit member 39 in cooperative relationship with the end of member 31 to form a fluid tight joint.

As shown, the joint member 36 is taperedand the joint member 31 has a corresponding female taper so that when the tray'is placed in the freezing chamber it will be certain that the 'j'oifnts will be aligned 'in' coopei'ative relation- .era'lly indicated at,-26, comprises. a longitudinal partition 21, and lateral partitions. 2 8 and '29 e'x-;

tending onueach side. of the longitudinal ara ship, The grid structure need not be made with a siagleldngitudizial partition 21 but two or more may' be provided with a corresponding number of joints .in th e evaporator housing. h

'1 The side w'allsl2l of the housing it are providedl with ribs 40, which contact with the edges of the tray iii to make certain that the joint members 36 and 37 are in cooperative relationship as the tray is inserted into the freezing chamber.

In order to supply air to the conduit formed in the grid structure, the pipe 39 is connected to the discharge side of a suitable pump 4!, which preferably has its inlet side connected to the interior of the refrigerator cabinet by means of a pipe 42, so that the air entering the freezing water will already be cold and thereby not interfere with the freezing of the water. The pump 4| is preferably supported in the flue l3, so that cooling air flowing up the flue l3 will carry away the heat from the pump and its driving motor 43. A thermostatic bulb 44 contacts with the bottom of the shelf" ll, so as to operate a control 45 so as to'shut off the motor 43, and stop the flow of air through the grid structure when the water in the tray l8, resting on the shelf H, has become frozen. If desired, other thermostatic bulbs beneath other shelves ofthe freezing chamber can be provided to operate in conjunction with thermostatic bulb 44 to operate the control device 45.

A control device 46which controls the energy supplied to the refrigerator system in accordance with the temperature within the refrigerator cabinet is suitably supported on the evaporator l4 and has one side connected by conductor 41 to one side of an electric supply line. The other side of the control member 46 is connected by a conductor 48 and conductor 49 to one side of control member 45. The conductor is extended and is connected to one side of the energy consuming part of the refrigerating system, which may be one operated by heat or one operated by an electric motor or both. The other side of the control 45 is connected by means of conductor 50 tothe motor 43 and through its field winding and conductor 5i, to a conductor 52, connecting the other side of the'energy consuming part of the refrigerating system to the other side of the electrical supply line.

In operation, if the control member 46 is call ing for refrigeration, the refrigerating system will be operating and if the water in the tray l8 has not yet been frozen, the control member 45 will connect the motor 43 through the control 46 to both sides of the supply line. If the control 46 is not calling for refrigeration and the refrigerating system is not operating, the motor 43 will also not be operating even though the water in the tray l8 has not been frozen. This,

through assures that no air will be circulated the grid structure when refrigeration is not being produced. 7

It can be seen from the foregoing description that a freezing tray and gridstructure has been provided which is simple in construction, easy to manufacture, and eflicient in operation whereby cold air can be circulated to the freezing water in the ice tray to agitate the same and remove the suspended gas therefrom and thereby produce clear ice cubes and in which the frozen cubes can be easily removed from the tray and grid assembly.

It can also be seen that an ice tray and grid, of the character described, has been provided in which" the grid is easily positioned in and re- .sembly from the tray,

moved from the tray by using the enlarged portion H as a hand grip in removing the grid asand in separating the cubes from the grid. 4 e fact that this portion is of non-conducting material makes it particularly suitable for this purpose since it will not freeze to the hand of the user. The tray and grid assembly can also be easily positioned in the freezing compartment of a domestic refrigerator to cooperate with the joint member there in forming a connection for the supply of air thereto.

While I have illustrated and described only one embodiment of my invention, it is to be understood that this embodiment is to be taken as illustrative only and not in a limiting sense. I do not wish to be limited to the structure shown but to include all equivalent variations thereof, except as limited by the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In combination, an evaporator of a domestic refrigerator having a freezing chamber, a removable tray positioned in said chamber, a grid structure positioned in said tray, conduit means associated with said grid structure,.conduit means associated with said chamber, and a separable joint member on each of said conduit means, said chamber having means for positioning the tray therein whereby the joint members are positioned in cooperative relationship.

2. In combination, an ice tray for a domestic refrigerator, a grid structure positioned therein to form freezing compartments, said grid being so constructed that fluid may be led to the compartments to agitate the contents thereof.

3. In combination, an ice tray for a domestic refrigerator, a grid structure positioned therein to form freezing compartments and conduit.

means associated with said grid structure and leading to each of said compartments.

4. In combination, an ice tray for a domestic refrigerator, a grid structure removably posi-- 'tioned therein to form freezing compartments,

structure being formed of flexible non-metallic material.

' 5. An ice tray grid structure of flexible nonmetallic material, comprising longitudinal and lateral grid members to form walls of freezing compartments, and conduit means formed on said longitudinal grid member and having portions opening through said walls at the bottom thereof.

6. An ice tray grid structure of flexible material comprising, longitudinal and lateral partitions adapted to cooperate with a'freezing tray to-form freezing compartments, conduit means formed integral with a; longitudinal partition and having extensionsextending to the bottom of said partition and opening into each freezing compartment,.said conduit means extending beyond the end being shaped to form a joint member.

7. An ice tray grid structure of flexible material comprising, "longitudinal and lateral partitions adapted to cooperate with a freezing tray to form freezing compartments, conduit means associated with a longitudinal partition and havof said longitudinalpartition and ing extensions extending to the bottom of and opening into said compartments-said conduit means extending beyond'the end of said longitudinal partition and being shaped to form a having extensions extending to and opening into said compartments, said conduit means extending beyond the end of said grid structure and being shaped to form a joint member.

9. In combination, a domestic refrigerator cabinet, an evaporator having a freezing chamber positioned therein, a-tray positioned in said freezing chamber, a grid structure positioned in said tray, conduit means [associated with the evaporator, grid structure and cabinet, said conduit means leading from the interior of the cabinet to adjacent the bottom of the tray and power means in said conduit means for pumping air from the cabinet to the tray to agitate the contents thereof. r

10. The combination as set forth in claim 9 in which the power means is positioned outside said cabinet.

11. The combination as set forth in claim 9 in which control means is provided for said power means operable when the contents of said tray is frozen to de-energize said power means.

12. In combination, a domestic refrigerator I cabinet, an evaporator having a freezing chamber positioned therein, a tray positioned m said freezing chamber, a grid structure positioned in means in accordance with the cabinet temperature.

13. ,An ice tray grid structure of flexible nonmetallic material comprising longitudinal and lateral grid members to form walls of freezing compartments, conduit. means formed on said longitudinal grid member and having portions opening through said walls at the bottom thereof, said longitudinal grid member being enlarged adjacent said conduit means to form a hand grip for use in removing said grid structure from av freezing tray and for removing ice cubes from said grid structure.

DONALD G. SMELLIE. 25 

